Humidity drawer



June 17, 1941. BRQWN 2,246,342

HUMIDITY DRAWER Filed May 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l I .17 37 18 E6 Jose0111251 01012 TTTTTTT Y5 June 17, 1941. J. BRQWN HUMIDITY DRAWER 2Sheds-Sheet 2 Filed May 16,1940

Il a

llil:

v ATTOR N EYS the chilled air of Patented June 17, 1941 it UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 1 n n 2,246,342

HUMIDITY naawsn Joseph D. Brown. Burlington, Colo. Application May 6,1940, Serial No. 333,667

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a humidity drawer adapted for use withrefrigerating apparatus in stores andlhomes and hasfor an object toprovide an air-tight drawer, the contents of which will be refrigeratedfrom conductive cold from the interior of the apparatus, which chilledair completely surrounds the drawer except for an insulated front end. i

A further object is to provide a humidity drawer having a hinged coversealed air-tight to the drawer so that moisture will be retained in thearticles in the drawer while at the same time the covered drawerprevents anything in the main cabinet from being spilled onfoods in thedrawer.

A further object is to provide a humidity drawer disposed horizontallyin an opening in the cabinet, and a hinged lid associated with thedrawer and adapted to gravitate and close the drawer opening when thedrawer is removed so that the cold air cannot escape from therefrigerating apparatus.

A further object is to provide a drawer of this type having side railswhich maybe easily guided between supporting rollers on the{refrigerating apparatus to promote easy opening and closing of thedrawer. f l

A further object is to provide apparatus of this character which will beformed oi a few strong, simple and durable parts, which will beinexpensive to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.n

With the above and other. objectsrinview the invention consists ofcertain novel details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood thatvarious modifications maybe resorted to within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mechanical refrigerator with aportion broken away to expose a closed humidity drawer constructed inaccordance with the invention and showing a similar humidity drawerinopen position.-

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the parts of the drawerdisassembled and disconnected from the front closure or plug for thedrawer opening.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the front clo-- sure or plug lookingtoward the rear side thereof.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view showing the awer gasket andreceiving groove therefor.

' Figure 6 ls a detailperspeetive view showing a portion of the hingedend of the lid of the drawer. Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional viewof" a mechanical refrigerator and a modified form of a humidity drawerin the bottom thereof, and

showing the drawer closed.

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator and drawersimilar to Figure 7, but showing the drawer open.

Figure 9 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 9-4 of Figure 7showing the guide rails of the drawer.

Referring now to the drawings in which like characters of referencedesignate similar parts in the various views, i0 designates a mechanicalrefrigerator of any preferred type having one or more drawer openings IIin the front wall below the door l2 of the refrigerator to receive adrawer or drawers. z

In carrying out the invention the humidity drawer comprises a bottom l3,a front wall II, a rear wall I I, and a short'inclined top wall l6 whichterminates near the rear wall. The draw er is thus virtually open at itstop except for a small rear portion thereof. The open top of the draweris closed by a sheet metal cover ll having thetop wall I6. A hinge isfilled with insulating material hinge lugs l8 at the rear edge tointerfit with hinge lugs I 9 formed at the forward edge of pintle 20 isremovably secured in the interfitting hinge lugs and is provided with aknob 2| on one end to permit the pintle being easily removed fordetaching the cover for cleaning the drawer. i

The upper edges of the front wall I 4 and side walls 9 are provided withrespective concave troughs 22 and 23 for receiving a tubular. gasket 24of circular cross section, as best shown in Figure 2. The gasketprojects above the troughs and seals the cover air-tight when the coveris closed so that moisture cannot escape from the drawer while at thesame time cold air, by conduction, can contact all the outer area of thedrawer with the exception of the front wall l4 and refrigerate thecontents of the drawer.

A closure plug or door 25 for the drawer opening I8 is preferably ofhollow construction and 26. Near the a latch casing bolt 28 adaptbottomthe door is provided with 21 in which is slidably mounted a ed to engagein a keeper 29 carried by th bottom of the wall of the refrigerator. Alever SI is pivotally connected to the bolt for withdrawing andapplying. the bolt to the keeper and the lever also provides a gripthrough the medium of which the plug or door 25 may be pulled outwardlyor inwardly.

The front wall I4 of the drawer is provided with stamped countersinks 3|which receive screw bolts 32 which are screwed into the rear wall of thedouble walled or hollow door 25. The drawer is thus securely attached asa unit to the hollow door but may be removed therefrom by unscrewing thescrew bolts 32.

A lid 33 is disposed above the drawer and is hinged at the front end asshown in Figure 4 to th inner wall of the refrigerator l2 above thedrawer opening ll. When the drawer is removed the lid gravitates andcovers the drawer opening ii so that no cold air escapes from the drawercompartment.

A roller 35 is secured by a bracket 36 to the underneath face of the lid33. When the drawer is "closed the roller spaces the lid 33 from thedrawer so that cold air may circulate over the top of the drawer. Asbest shown in Figure 6 the lid I! may be formed hollow and provided withcork insulation 31 to effectively seal the door opening when the lid isclosed. The lid forms a weight on the drawer cover ll when the drawer isclosed to hold the cover firmly pressed down against the gasket 24 toseal the drawer airtight.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figures 7 to 9, inclusive,in which the refrigerator 38 is provided with an opening 39 in a wallthereof to receive the humidity drawer, the latter comprises a bottom40, side wall 4|, a front wall 42 and a rear wall 43, fully open at thetop. The front wall'of the drawer is secured to the rear wall 43 of aho'llow closure plug or door 44 which is filled with insulating material45-and is provided with a handle 46 for inserting and withdrawing thehumidity drawer through the opening 39. A gasket 41 is disposed aroundthe door 44 to seal the humidity drawer space airtight.

Bolts 48 are passed through the front wall 42 of the humidity drawer andinto the rear wall 43 of the door to attach the humidity drawer as aunit with the door and space the bottom 40 of the humidity drawer abovethe bottom of the refrigerator so that cold air may circulate all aroundthe humidity drawer except the door and refrigerate the contents byconduction. The bottom of the humidity drawer is equipped with a foot 49which bears upon the bottom of the refrigerator to support the rear endof the humidity drawer when the drawer is open as shown in Figure 8.

As best shown in Figures 7 and 9, a horizontal sheet metal diaphragm 50is provided with upturned front and rear ends i which are secured to thefront and rear inner surfaces of a refrigerator. The diaphragm isprovided with downwardly extending flanges 52, each flange is equippedwith upper and lower rows of rollers 53 and 54 alined transversely ofthe humidity drawer. The humidity drawer is equipped on the sides nearthe upper top with longitudinal flanges or ribs 55 which are receivedbetween respective upper and lower pairs of supporting rollers 53 and 54to slidably secure the humidity drawer and to promote easy opening andclosing of the drawer.

For yieldably holding the drawer closed a substantially U-shaped keeper58 is secured to the rear wall 43 of the humidity drawer. A roller 51 isdisposed on a bracket arm 58 which is pivoted as shown at 59 to a baseplate 60 having a rear upturned end 6|. A helical spring 82 is securedto the rear upturned end to a lug 63 which proiects from the side of thebracket arm 58. The bracket arm 58 is of such length as to dispose theroller 51 in the keeper 56 to yieldably hold the humidity drawer closed.When the humidity drawer is opened, the keeper 56 engages the roller andswings the bracket arm 58 forwardly and downwardly out of the keeper inwhich position the spring 62 is tensioned to yieldably hold the rollerin an unobstructing position against the inner surface of the bottom ofthe refrigerator, as best shown in'Figure 8.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplanation.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a refrigerator having a drawer space, of adrawer in said space open at the top, an insulated door secured to thefront end of the drawer sealing the entrance of said space, a coverclosing the top of the drawer, a sealing gasket between the cover andthe top of the drawer, and a lid hinged to the refrigerator above thedoor for closing the entrance end of the drawer space when the drawer isremoved and forming a weight on the cover to compress the gasket andseal the drawer air-tight when the drawer is closed.

2. The combination with a refrigerator having a drawer space, of adrawer in said space open at the top, an insulated door secured to thefront end of the drawer sealing the entrance of said space, a coverclosing the top of the drawer, a sealing gasket between the cover andthe top of the drawer, a lid hinged to the refrigerator above the drawerfor closing the entrance and of the drawer space when the drawer isremoved, and a roller carried by the lid engaging the cover and spacingthe lid from the cover so that cold air may refrigerate the contents ofthe drawer by conduction.

JOSEPH D. BROWN.

